Standpipe Mountain
Graham, Young County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Rising 1160 feet above sea level as part of the Belknap Range, Standpipe Mountain is the western peak of the twin mountains, which dominate the surrounding landscape. It was included in the land purchased in 1872 by E. S. and G. A. Graham, for whom the town was named. The brothers moved to this area from Kentucky to begin development of land and mineral resources in the area. The town of Graham developed rapidly and was soon the site of a gristmill, sawmill, brick factory, Federal court, and the county courthouse. During the early 1890s the mountain was explored by E. S. Graham to determine if silver or other minerals might exist in commercial quantities. It became known as Standpipe Mountain in 1907 when a city water storage tank was first constructed on the crest. Designated Victory Park, the mountain was donated to the city by the estate of E. S. Graham following World War I. Later developed by the Rotary Club, it has played a significant role in the community. Since the 1870s Standpipe Mountain has served as a landmark, a center of commercial activity, and as a favorite spot for numerous candlelight ceremonies, picnics, and outings.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The western peak of the twin Belknap Range mountains, Standpipe Mountain lay within land the Graham brothers bought in 1872 as they founded the town that bears their name and set to developing its resources. E. S. Graham even prospected the mountain for silver in the 1890s. It took its name in 1907 when the city built a water tank on its crest, and after World War I it was given to the city as Victory Park.
Why it matters
The mountain's changing uses — landmark, mineral prospect, waterworks, and memorial park — trace the growth of a North Texas town from frontier venture to settled community.
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Related people
- · E. S. Graham
- · G. A. Graham
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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In 1879, after fire destroyed his frame store, druggist Joseph E. Ryus rebuilt on the same Graham lot in locally fired brick — a statement of permanence in a young frontier county seat. The room above his drugstore became Judge Andrew P. McCormick's first federal district courtroom that same year, before the court decamped for Abilene. Since 1892 the Knights of Pythias have kept their lodge hall on the upper floor, giving the building an unbroken civic life for over a century.
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Graham Salt Works
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Saline seeps along Salt Creek drew settlers here in the 1850s, and Martin Bowers began the first commercial salt-making before selling to Confederate veteran A. B. Gant. In 1871 the brothers Gustavus and Edwin Graham bought the works and re-equipped it to produce up to 2,500 pounds of salt a day, though it ran only two years because hauling the salt to market cost more than making it. Brief as it was, the enterprise seeded a town: the Grahams gave land for the community that bears their name and for the cemetery where both are buried.
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